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With the loss of several cruise ship stops this summer, Wrangell may not exceed last year’s cruise visitor count as had been originally projected. Wrangell recently lost 14 stops from the cruise line American Queen Voyages, which filed for bankruptcy last month, canceling its 186-passenger Ocean Victory to Southeast Alaska. This translates to a loss of $33,000 in port fees and as many as 2,600 summer visitors for Wrangell. The town also lost the stops of three mid-size cruise ships which are now going to Klawock, taking about 2,200 berths o...
Riverboats have operated on the Stikine since the gold rush days of the 1860s and 1870s. The commerce was a big part of Wrangell’s economy in those days, with a long history of family-owned businesses moving people and freight up and down the river to and from Canada for 100 years. And long before that, the river, which provided a natural passageway through the Coast Mountains, was used as a trade route by Indigenous peoples. The Tlingit and Tahltan knew the value of the river. Wrangell was a hub, with the Stikine serving as the equivalent o...
Michael Hicks has something to shout about. It's Wrangell. "I'm loud about Wrangell right now," said the senior director of marketing for American Queen Voyages. The company operates the 342-foot Ocean Victory cruise ship, which last month made its first of 14 scheduled visits to Wrangell this summer. One of the reasons the cruise line comes to town is jet boat tours. "Wrangell and the jet boats fit so well into what we're doing," Hicks said. "Ocean Victory is only 186 guests. A lot of our...
The Ketchikan city council has decided to use the community’s $2 million gift from Norwegian Cruise Line to help cover lost revenue in the town’s ailing port fund. The city finance director reported to the council that port revenues fell by more than 99% when cruise ships stopped calling in 2020 — from more than $10 million in 2019 to roughly $82,000 in 2020. And it wasn’t much better this year: Revenue is expected to come in at about $1.35 million, as a limited number of ships operated in the shortened visitor season. Without an immediate cash...
The COVID-19 case count among the 214 passengers and crew who were aboard the American Constellation’s Southeast Alaska cruise the second week of July has risen to 16, as the ship prepared this week to end its 10-day quarantine in Juneau and resume voyages. Of the 16, four isolated in Petersburg, which was where the first case was discovered on July 8, and a dozen in Juneau, the City and Borough of Juneau reported July 15. As of Monday, nine had recovered and seven people remained in isolation in Juneau, officials said. The 267-foot-long s...
The first cruise ship to cancel runs through Southeast Alaska this summer due to COVID-19 cases on board is tied up in Juneau, waiting for the 10-day quarantine for the crew to end. The 267-foot American Constellation, which was carrying 162 passengers and a crew of 52, docked in Juneau last Saturday after a day earlier letting off several people in Petersburg for medical care and quarantine. Uninfected passengers flew home from Juneau, while the crew remains on board. “The three individuals who tested positive for COVID-19, along with their cl...
Congressional action exempting large cruise ships from having to stop in Canada on their summer voyages to Alaska will provide a boost to heavily tourism-dependent Southeast communities. Although Wrangell was never on the itineraries of the largest ships, it’s possible the town may see some additional visitors with the change in U.S. law. Without the temporary exemption from a century-old U.S. maritime law, the foreign-registered ships would have been required to stop in Canada, which has not been possible since the country shut down its p...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued new operating guidance for cruise lines, with at least one company just three days later submitting its plan to possibly resume sailings in July. An industry group, however, strongly criticized the instructions. The new federal guidance does not change the reality for Alaska that Canada has not lifted or amended its ban on cruise ships. Without a change in Canada, or a temporary waiver from U.S. law requiring a stop in a Canadian port for...
Independent travelers and passengers aboard small cruise ships are vital to Wrangell's tourism season, and they're exactly what the community is focusing on - regardless of Canada's decision to keep its waters closed to the larger cruise ships that come to Alaska. "We're moving forward with marketing to independent travelers ... it's huge for us," said Carol Rushmore, the borough's economic development director and head of the Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau. "The fact that we don't rely...
December 17 Jamie Roberts, with the Wrangell EOC, reported that there are currently no active cases of COVID-19 in the community. Statewide, Alaska’s case count is 41,859 as of yesterday. This is an increase of 3,151 from last week. Wrangell received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 16. According to SEARHC, following guidance from the Alaska Vaccine Advisory Council, vaccinations will be given to frontline health workers first, along with first responders, and l...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly, between their weekly COVID-19 update and a budget workshop last Thursday, met to discuss the possibility of small cruise ships visiting town this summer. Cruise season has been a topic of some concern amongst the community. Many ships have delayed or cancelled their planned stops in Wrangell in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A smaller cruise season means fewer tourists and will have a negative impact on Wrangell's economy. On the other hand, there are concerns...
Wrangell Cooperative Association has created a new position for tourism development, hiring Rachel Moreno for the job. The move is one intended to better coordinate the Tribe’s participation in the visitor industry, a growing segment of the economy regionally despite declines in other sectors. According to state labor statistics, tourism accounted for nine percent of all employment earnings in Southeast for 2015. The sector made up about 17 percent of all jobs, and is currently the fastest-growing. About 500 average annual jobs were added last...